As most of you that have read my blog very much know, I have been in the process of reading a book called PREACHING RE-IMAGINED by Doug Pagitt. Doug is a pastor in Minneapolis-St. Paul, MN. He pastors a church called Solomon's Porch, which is on the forefront of the emerging church conversation.

In what is now his first book, Pagitt calls us to reimagine what it is like to do life together as a Church. In this book he takes on worship, and more specifically how preaching needs to be rethought. In his book he labels the predominant model of preaching "speaching" and the model he advocates moving toward as "progressional dialogue".

The book begins with longer chapters than lay out Pagitt's overarching vision of where preaching has been and where it is going. Then, he moves on to shorter, more specific chapters advocating his position, and describing in broad strokes how to implement this different model of preaching into a worship setting.

Specifically, as I said, Pagitt advocates a mode of preaching called "progressional dialogue". In this model, he intentionally brings in the congregation on the preparation of the message, and invites them into the preaching event itself.

As Pagitt challenges the "speaching model" he makes his reader think about a lot of very important theological questions. Do we believe in the Holy Spirit enough to believe that he can speak through someone besides the pastor in the preaching experience? Do we see the pastor as leading as an equipper and servant (as Pagitt advocates) or do we see the pastor as a mouthpiece for God and a dictator?

He also asks more missional questions such as "Doesn't the way we do preaching and church just seem weird if you have not grown up with it?" Isn't dialogue a more effective and real life way of reaching people for Christ than trying to bend them to the preacher's will?

Pagitt also entertains questions about the nature of communication. How does the use of a large sound system and a raised platform effect the dynamics of worship?

Doug challenges us with a lot of ideas to think about. But if that is all you get out of the book you miss the point. This book is bigger than a technique. It is about returning to Biblical convictions like trusting God, trusting and loving people, expecting each person to be ministers in a congregation, and trusting the Holy Spirit to work in them as well just the minister.

I strongly recommend any pastor who does not feel like worship and preaching in most of our churches in working to read this. Or any person who is simply trying to make sense of church in our day.